MUSICAL. HAIRSPRAY (PG) 110min 0000
Director Adam Shankman appears at last to have found his niche after bestowing clangers The Pacifier and Cheaper by the Dozen 2 on this world.
With his feeling for good choreography (in a previous life he danced with Paula Abdul and Janet Jackson) and his feeling for the mainstream, his colourful version of Hairspray works almost perfectly.
Admittedly, he couldn’t go far wrong, as this is a faithful interpretation of the Broadway stage musical. Fans of the original John Waters 1988 film starring Divine and Ricki Lake should not fret - this is not a remake. This is a film based on a musical which is based on a film. Kapisch?
It’s set in 19505 Baltimore where Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky) fulfils her dreams of performing on a local TV dance programme. She then uses her overnight celebrity status to campaign to racially integrate the whiter than white Corny Collins and his show.
The timing was right for a new all-singing, all-dancing teen flick in the wake of Disney TV juggernaut High School Musical. It is probably no coincidence that Zac Efron, star of the aforementioned teen-friendly Grease
FAMILY COMEDY
(PG) 111min 00
_‘ i ,
rip-off, pops up in Hairspray as ‘hunk’ Link Larkin.
As with the original Broadway production, success here depends on the involvement of some big name stars. It‘s taken 30 years for John Travolta to be convinced to appear in a musical again, this time trading drag racing in Grease to straightforward drag as Edna Turnblad. Despite an odd accent at times, he is surprisingly endearing. Michelle Pfeiffer and Christopher Walken give good support despite the fact that Walken proves that he may be able to dance but he sure can’t sing. By the same token, who would have thought X-Men’s James Marsden — playing TV host Corny Collins — was such a good singer?
With such a broad net being cast to catch a wider audience, the darker elements of Waters’ screenplay are long lost in the pursuit of fun and family. However, this also means that the entire point of the story - segregation in the 605 - is also somewhat underplayed in comparison with Waters’ original vision.
This version of Hairspray is great fun, incredibly mainstream and a welcome break from a summer of sequels and noisy blockbusters. Go on - let your summer be less about explosions and more about the subtle hiss from a can of Ultra Clutch hairspray.
(Darren Scott) I General release from Fri 20 July.
FIREHOUSE DOG
Rexxx is a pampered pooch star in the Rin Tin Tin mould. apparently known and loved by millions as the star of blockbusters such as Jurassrc Bark. But when a stunt on his latest film. Terr/er at 20,000 Feet. goes horribly wrong. Rexx falls out of the sky and into the life of schoolboy chum. Shane. (Bridge to 72)r'(il)illiia's Josh l~lutchersonl He also gains a more worthwhile metier. putting his tricks to use as the fearlesst brave mascot of the local fire brigade.
The moderate success of 2005's Lassre remake is presumably to blame for the Iongshelved release of Rexx's tepid adventures. which belong firmly With GI‘OW/‘IH/‘S Bobby in the poop tray of modern multiplex cinema. Oddly. the bonding chats about responsibility between Shane and his father Connor (Bruce Gieenwood. slummingi work much better than the mismatched stunts and cute CGI. suggesting that director Todd Holland would have been better to play the whole film With a straight face. skipping the shonky Hollywood satire. The triple X status of Rexxx's name suggests that hes also hot stuff in terms of doggy-style action. but keeping his romance With a long-haired Dalmatian tactfully off—screen is the only real badge of merit in this dog-cared enterprise. (Eddie Harrison)
I General release from Fri 20 Jul.
Film
PlayList
This month’s PlayLlst is dedicated to Mystery Science Theatre 3000. a Minneapolis television show which broadcasted commentaries on 198 obscure films between 1988 and 1999. Now uploaded onto the internet by the show‘s dedicated fans, the irreverent MST3K versions have given many films an unexpected new lease of life. Where else could you see work of the dubious calibre of 1966's Manes, The Hands of Fate (www.youtube.com). an astonishingly amateurish horror film from 1966 featuring the less than terrifying duo of Manos, who resembles Frank Zappa dressed as Denis the Menace. and his unintentionally comical sidekick Torgo. a man with knees the size of watermelons?
Without synchronised sound or any kind of coherent storyline. Manos has a strange. dreamlike quality that David Lynch would later make his own. Yet among the drive- in fodder (Squirm, The Giant Spider Invasion, Track of the Moonbeast) there are a few real cinematic gems which transcend the MST3K rough- housing process. Known as ‘The Walt Disney of the Soviet Union', Russian director Aleksandr Ptushko was a stop-motion genius. his epic The Day the Earth Froze (youtube.com) and Aleksandr Rou’s Jack Frost (youtubecom) include talking bears. two~headed dragons and heroines with more muscles than their heroes.
Not far enough from the beaten track for you? Carry On star Bernard Bresslaw turns up in Moon Zero No (pictured). a Hammer space Western from 1969 that defies both science and belief (youtubecom). Or why not check out a stark German black and white television version of Hamlet (youtubecom). with Maximillian Schell as the prince. and Paul Verhoeven as a gravedigger. And curiosity value alone is reason enough to watch 1979 organ-donor thriller The Clonus Horror (google.co.uk). which was deliberately buried to conceal the fact that Michael Bay's Uber-flop The Island appears to have been copied from it, scene by scene. (30 on, seek out a diamond in the rough. (Eddie Harrison)
it? Jul 1‘ At“) 3015/ THE LIST 41